Led by strong performances from sophomores Adam Carton and Mark Sohn, the men's gymnastics team opened its 1989 season with a win over Syracuse, 263.70-256.85.

Carton, who claimed eight all-around titles in 12 regular season meets last year, continued his winning ways, taking the all-around with a score of 56.10. The sophomore finished first in every event except pommel, in which his teammate, Sohn, took top honors.

Carton compiled scores of 9.4 (floor exercise), 9.55 (rings), 9.50 (vault), 9.45 (parallel bars), 9.35 (high bar) and 8.85 (pommel horse).

"This was a great start for him," Coach Karl Schier said. "He had only one break, (pommel horse) and just did a super job."

Sohn, a pommel horse specialist and the 1988 pommel horse co-national champion, also started the new season on the right foot. He claimed the top spot on that event with a 9.55, a strong score for an early-season meet.

"He tried a new dismount, a pirouetting handstand," Schier said. "But he landed on the wrong side of the horse. It was still an impressive set, but that did take away from his score a bit."

Schier said early on that the freshman would be a deciding factor in the season. Against Syracuse, one freshman, Mike Reichenbach, proved that he is more than ready to pull his weight for the team.

In his first collegiate meet, Reichenbach turned in a 51.65 all-around score, placing him third overall in the competition, close behind Syracuse's Craig Scholnic, 52.55. Reichenbach's highest score was an 8.85 on the high bar.

"We expected Mike to be our fifth all-arounder," Schier said. "Now, he finishes third. That's a nice surprise for us."

Schier was not the only one surprised by the freshman's performance.

"I was psyched to do so well," Reichenbach said. "I was looking for a safe meet and it was nice to start with a clean meet and to hit so well. We watered down our routines a little bit but I was still really happy with my scores.

"It really wasn't too hard to compete in a collegiate meet because it was very laid-back. It was nice to start the meet away because the crowd isn't like what you get at Rec Hall. Hopefully, I'll be ready for Rec Hall now. We'll see on Friday night."

Junior Karl Abraham finished close behind Reichenbach with a 51.25 followed by freshman Wayne Cowden (50.75) and sophomore Jamie Downer (50.05).

"Downer was still unable to do dismounts because of his knee injury," Schier said. "His knee is better now but he still hasn't done much in the way of workout.

"Wayne was a little rough all the way around. But he did turn in a nice routine on rings. He finished wit a 9.2."

Unfortunately for the Lions, team captain Kurt Schier suffered an ankle injury during warm-ups on the vault. Due to the injury, Schier did not compete on floor exercise or vault. However, he earned an 8.95 on the rings despite a milked-down dismount.

"I was really happy with what I did," Schier said. "Even though I didn't do a dismount, I did a good set. In the Farm- ingdale meet (in December) I didn't do too well so I was anxious to get back on the rings and see what I could do, ankle or no ankle."

Schier said that he believes the injury is to the Achilles tendon, not the ankle. If that is the case, he will be unable to fully participate in a meet for at least three to four weeks. He plans to see a specialist later today to get a full report on the injury.

Last year the Lions scored 265.7 against the Orangemen en route to a season average of 274.86. This year's score was two points lower, but Schier is unconcerned.

"We expected to be rough," he said. "We wanted to be careful and do routines that they could handle right now. We did a good job in that way.

"It was a good meet. It was a tactical win for us. Syracuse started practicing on December 28 in order to try to catch us. We were able to withstand that thrust even though we've only had one or two weeks of practice."

The Lions will open their home season at 8 Friday night in Rec Hall, when they face East Stroudsburg and Southern Connecticut.